PRINCETON, N.J., April 14, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advaxis, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADXS), a biotechnology company developing the next generation of cancer immunotherapies, announced that the Japan Patent Office issued to Advaxis two notices of allowance for two patent applications (P-72863-JP, P-7924) with claims for each patent application related to the Company's proprietary cancer immunotherapy platform technology. These patents will provide protection in Japan until 2030.
Including these patents, Advaxis now has well over 40 patents issued and over 40 patents pending worldwide, all covering both core methodology and other aspects of our proprietary immunotherapy technology platform.
One of the patent applications allowed by the Japan Patent Office covers Advaxis's immunotherapy treatments targeting factors that are essential for tumors or metastases to form new blood vessels (angiogenesis) or that are expressed by tumor blood vessels. Inhibiting a tumor's blood supply is necessary to prevent tumor growth. The claims allowed under this patent application cover multiple targets associated with angiogenesis that can be targeted at the same time in humans as well as animals. These targets include, but are not limited to, HER2 and VEGFr2. In addition, the claims also cover endoglin fragments (CD105A and CD105B) used to target formation of new tumor blood vessels.
The second patent application that has now been allowed by the Japan Patent Office covers the form of a recombinant attenuated auxotrophic Listeria having specific mutations conferring attenuation along with plasmid that complements the genomic mutation and also expresses a protein antigen fused to highly immunogenic Listeria peptides or other strongly immunogenic pathogen-associated peptide sequences. The claims allowed under this patent application protect key elements of Advaxis's proprietary immunotherapy platform technology in Japan.
"As we continue to expand our intellectual property portfolio of our proprietary cancer immunotherapies, patents such as these are important to protect the core elements of our technology and extend our protection in key markets like Japan," commented Dr. Robert Petit, Chief Scientific Officer of Advaxis. "It has already been established that attacking a tumor's blood supply is an important strategy in preventing the tumor from growing and spreading. The addition of these two patents in Japan further allows Advaxis to protect key elements of its proprietary cancer immunotherapies."
About Advaxis, Inc.
Advaxis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing the next generation of cancer immunotherapies. Advaxis's immunotherapies are based on a novel platform technology using live, attenuated bacteria to stimulate the immune system to selectively target cancer cells while reducing tumor defenses.
ADXS-HPV, Advaxis's lead immunotherapy for the treatment of HPV-associated cancers, has demonstrated improved survival and objective tumor responses in a Phase 2 trial in 110 patients with recurrent cervical cancer. Advaxis is now planning the registrational program for ADXS-HPV. ADXS-HPV is also being evaluated in other HPV-associated cancers including a Phase 2 in advanced cervical cancer, a Phase 1/2 in head and neck cancer, and a Phase 1/2 in anal cancer. ADXS-HPV has orphan drug status for both anal and head and neck cancers. As part of its global commercialization strategy to enter into regional licensing deals with other market dominant biopharmaceutical companies in territories where there is a high prevalence of HPV-associated cancers, Advaxis has granted exclusive licenses for the development and commercialization of ADXS-HPV in Asia and India.
ADXS-cHER2 is an immunotherapy for the treatment of HER2-overexpressing cancers (such as breast, gastric, esophageal, and other cancers in humans and for osteosarcoma in canines). Advaxis' lead animal-health immunotherapy, ADXS-cHER2, has demonstrated encouraging survival data in a trial in canine osteosarcoma. These data provide the rationale to advance this same immunotherapy into a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with HER2-overexpressing cancers such as breast, gastric, esophageal, and others. The Company is preparing an IND submission for ADXS-cHER2 in the treatment of HER2 overexpressing cancers in humans in 2014 and has licensed ADXS-cHER2 for animal-health indications.
Advaxis has created more than 20 distinct immunotherapies based on its platform, either directly or through strategic collaborations with recognized cancer centers of excellence. We have clinical research collaborations with the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, the Georgia Regents University Cancer Center, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and others.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: statements regarding Advaxis's ability to develop the next generation of cancer immunotherapies; the safety and efficacy of Advaxis's proprietary immunotherapy, ADXS-HPV; whether Advaxis immunotherapies can redirect the powerful immune response all human beings have to the bacterium to cancers. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, including the risk factors set forth from time to time in Advaxis's SEC filings, including but not limited to its report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2013, which is available at http://www.sec.gov. Advaxis undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements, which may be made to reflect the events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.